Great Britain

proper noun

A large island (sometimes also including some of the surrounding smaller islands) off the north-west coast of Western Europe, made up of England, Scotland, and Wales.

Similar
GBGramaryeAlbionBlightyEnglandOld BlightyOld Dartsceptred isle
OriginMiddle English Great Brittaigne →
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Meanings

proper noun
  1. A large island (sometimes also including some of the surrounding smaller islands) off the north-west coast of Western Europe, made up of England, Scotland, and Wales.

    Synonyms: GB, Gramarye

  2. broadlyThe United Kingdom, a kingdom and country in Northern Europe including the island of Great Britain as well as Northern Ireland on the northeastern portion of the island of Ireland.

    Synonyms: Albion, Blighty, England, Old Blighty, Old Dart, sceptred isle

  3. historicalA former kingdom existing on the island of Great Britain from 1707 to 1801, consisting of England, Scotland and Wales; it was in personal union with the Kingdom of Ireland and later merged with it. Official name: Kingdom of Great Britain.
  4. governmentEngland, Scotland and Wales in combination, to the exclusion of Northern Ireland.
  5. hobbiesThe United Kingdom national team (often inclusive of Northern Ireland).

    Great Britain apologizes to South Africa for playing apartheid anthem before field hockey game

    2012, Chris Chance, “Great Britain apologizes to South Africa for playing apartheid anthem before field hockey game”, in Yahoo! Sports, archived from the original on 12 Jun 2018
    1 more example

    The manager of the London Cup hockey tournament must apologise for playing apartheid anthem "Die Stem" before South Africa's clash with Great Britain, SA Hockey Association chief executive Marissa Langeni said on Wednesday.

    2012, “'Apologise' for Die Stem”, in Sport24, South Africa

Synonyms & antonyms

proper nounA large island (sometimes also including some of the surrounding smaller islands) off the north-west coast of Western Europe, made up of England, Scotland, and Wales.

Similar
GBGramarye

proper nounThe United Kingdom, a kingdom and country in Northern Europe including the island of Great Britain as well as Northern Ireland on the northeastern portion of the island of Ireland.

Similar
AlbionBlightyEnglandOld BlightyOld Dartsceptred isle
Also see
kingdom of great britainunited kingdomunited kingdom of great britain

Origin

  1. Middle EnglishGreat Brittaigne
  2. EnglishGreat Britain

Of the island of Great Britain, to disambiguate Britain from Brittany, i.e. Lesser Britain. From Middle English Great Brittaigne, Grete Britaigne, Grete breteygne, grete Bretayne, grete breteyne, paralleling Anglo-Norman Grande Brettayne and c. 12th-century Medieval Latin Britannia Maior. Equivalent to Great + Britain. King James VI and I in 1604 proclaimed himself “King of Great Britain, France and Ireland”.

More words from Middle English

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans Groot-Brittanje, Groot-Brittanje
  • Groot-Brittanjeisland — see also Britain
  • Groot-BrittanjeUnited Kingdom — see also United Kingdom
Ancient Greek Βρεττανία
  • Βρεττανία (Brettanía)island — see also Britain
Arabic بِرِيطَانِيَا الْعُظْمَى
  • بِرِيطَانِيَا الْعُظْمَى (birīṭāniyā l-ʕuẓmā)island — see also Britain
Basque Britainia Handia
  • Britainia Handiaisland — see also Britain
Bengali গ্রেট ব্রিটেন
  • গ্রেট ব্রিটেন (greṭ briṭen)island — see also Britain
Bulgarian Великобрита́ния
  • Великобрита́ния (Velikobritánija)island — see also Britain
Catalan Gran Bretanya
  • Gran Bretanyaisland — see also Britain
Chinese Cantonese 大不列顛 /大不列颠
  • 大不列顛 /大不列颠island — see also Britain
Chinese Mandarin 大不列顛 /大不列颠
  • 大不列顛 /大不列颠 (Dàbùlièdiān)island — see also Britain
Czech Velká Británie, Velká Británie
  • Velká Británieisland — see also Britain
  • Velká BritánieUnited Kingdom — see also United Kingdom
Danish Storbritannien, Storbritannien
  • Storbritannienisland — see also Britain
  • StorbritannienUnited Kingdom — see also United Kingdom
Dutch Groot-Brittannië
  • Groot-Brittanniëisland — see also Britain
Esperanto Granda Britio
  • Granda Britioisland — see also Britain
Estonian Suurbritannia, Suurbritannia
  • Suurbritanniaisland — see also Britain
  • SuurbritanniaUnited Kingdom — see also United Kingdom
Finnish Iso-Britannia, Iso-Britannia
  • Iso-Britanniaisland — see also Britain
  • Iso-BritanniaUnited Kingdom — see also United Kingdom
  • Iso-Britanniathe United Kingdom national team in a sports context
French Grande-Bretagne
  • Grande-Bretagneisland — see also Britain
German Großbritannien, Großbritannien
  • Großbritannienisland — see also Britain
  • GroßbritannienUnited Kingdom — see also United Kingdom
Greek Μεγάλη Βρετανία
  • Μεγάλη Βρετανία (Megáli Vretanía)island — see also Britain
Hebrew בְּרִיטַנְיָה הַגְּדוֹלָה
  • בְּרִיטַנְיָה הַגְּדוֹלָה (británya ha-g'dolá)island — see also Britain
Hindi ग्रेट ब्रिटेन, ग्रेटब्रिटेन
  • ग्रेट ब्रिटेन (greṭ briṭen)island — see also Britain
  • ग्रेटब्रिटेन (greṭabriṭen)island — see also Britain
  • बृहद् ब्रिटेन (bŕhad briṭen)island — see also Britain
  • ग्रेट ब्रिटेन (greṭ briṭen)United Kingdom — see also United Kingdom
  • ग्रेटब्रिटेन (greṭabriṭen)United Kingdom — see also United Kingdom
Hungarian Nagy-Britannia
  • Nagy-Britanniaisland — see also Britain
Icelandic Stóra-Bretland
  • Stóra-Bretlandisland — see also Britain
Indonesian Britania Raya, Britania Raya
  • Britania Rayaisland — see also Britain
  • Britania RayaUnited Kingdom — see also United Kingdom
Irish An Bhreatain Mhór
  • An Bhreatain Mhórisland — see also Britain
Italian Gran Bretagna
  • Gran Bretagnaisland — see also Britain
Japanese グレートブリテン, グレートブリテン
  • グレートブリテン (Gureito Buriten)island — see also Britain
  • グレートブリテン (Gurēto Buriten)United Kingdom — see also United Kingdom
Korean 그레이트브리튼, 대브리텐
  • 그레이트브리튼 (Geureiteubeuriteun)island — see also Britain
  • 대브리텐 (Daebeuriten)island — see also Britain
Latin Britannia
  • Britanniaisland — see also Britain
Latvian Lielbritānija, Lielbritānija
  • Lielbritānijaisland — see also Britain
  • LielbritānijaUnited Kingdom — see also United Kingdom
Lithuanian Didžioji Britanija, Didžioji Britanija
  • Didžioji Britanijaisland — see also Britain
  • Didžioji BritanijaUnited Kingdom — see also United Kingdom
Malay Great Britain
  • Great Britainisland — see also Britain
Māori Piritini Nui
  • Piritini Nuiisland — see also Britain
Norwegian Bokmål Storbritannia, Storbritannia
  • Storbritanniaisland — see also Britain
  • StorbritanniaUnited Kingdom — see also United Kingdom
Polish Wielka Brytania, Wielka Brytania
  • Wielka Brytaniaisland — see also Britain
  • Wielka BrytaniaUnited Kingdom — see also United Kingdom
Portuguese Grã-Bretanha, Grã-Bretanha
  • Grã-Bretanhaisland — see also Britain
  • Grã-BretanhaUnited Kingdom — see also United Kingdom
Punjabi ਗਰੇਟ ਬ੍ਰਿਟੇਨ, ਗ੍ਰੇਟ ਬ੍ਰਿਟੇਨ
  • ਗਰੇਟ ਬ੍ਰਿਟੇਨ (gareṭ briṭen)island — see also Britain
  • ਗ੍ਰੇਟ ਬ੍ਰਿਟੇਨ (greṭ briṭen)island — see also Britain
Romanian Marea Britanie, Marea Britanie
  • Marea Britanieisland — see also Britain
  • Marea BritanieUnited Kingdom — see also United Kingdom
Russian Великобрита́ния, Великобрита́ния
  • Великобрита́ния (Velikobritánija)island — see also Britain
  • Великобрита́ния (Velikobritánija)United Kingdom — see also United Kingdom
Scottish Gaelic Breatainn Mhòr
  • Breatainn Mhòrisland — see also Britain
Slovak Veľká Británia
  • Veľká Britániaisland — see also Britain
Spanish Gran Bretaña
  • Gran Bretañaisland — see also Britain
Swedish Storbritannien, Storbritannien
  • Storbritannienisland — see also Britain
  • StorbritannienUnited Kingdom — see also United Kingdom
Tagalog Gran Britanya, Gran Britanya
  • Gran Britanyaisland — see also Britain
  • Gran BritanyaUnited Kingdom — see also United Kingdom
Tamil பெரிய பிரித்தானிய, பெரிய பிரித்தானியா
  • பெரிய பிரித்தானிய (periya pirittāṉiya)island — see also Britain
  • பெரிய பிரித்தானியா (periya pirittāṉiyā)island — see also Britain
Thai บริเตนใหญ่, เกรตบริเตน
  • บริเตนใหญ่ (brì-dteen-yài)island — see also Britain
  • เกรตบริเตน (gréet-brì-dteen)island — see also Britain
  • บริเตนใหญ่ (brì-dtēen-yài)United Kingdom — see also United Kingdom
  • เกรตบริเตน (gréet-brì-dtēen)United Kingdom — see also United Kingdom
  • อังกฤษ (āng-grìt)United Kingdom — see also United Kingdom
Turkish Büyük Britanya
  • Büyük Britanyaisland — see also Britain
Ukrainian Великобрита́нія, Вели́ка Брита́нія
  • Великобрита́нія (Velykobrytánija)island — see also Britain
  • Вели́ка Брита́нія (Velýka Brytánija)island — see also Britain
  • Вели́ка Брита́нія (Velýka Brytánija)United Kingdom — see also United Kingdom
  • Великобрита́нія (Velykobrytánija)United Kingdom — see also United Kingdom
Urdu بَرْطَانِیَۂ عُظْمیٰ, عَظِیم بَرْطانِیَہ
  • بَرْطَانِیَۂ عُظْمیٰ (bartāniya-yi 'uzmā)island — see also Britain
  • عَظِیم بَرْطانِیَہ ('azīm bartāniya)island — see also Britain
Vietnamese Đại Anh, nước Anh
  • Đại Anhisland — see also Britain
  • nước Anhisland — see also Britain
  • đảo Anhisland — see also Britain
Welsh Prydain Fawr
  • Prydain Fawrisland — see also Britain
Yiddish גרויסבריטאַניע
  • גרויסבריטאַניע (groysbritanye)island — see also Britain
Cite this entry
APA

Great Britain. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Great%20Britain

MLA

“Great Britain.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Great%20Britain. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Great Britain,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Great%20Britain.

Source: Great Britain on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.